I enjoy watching the earliest talkies, full of people who had been silent films actors until very recently. I watched this film around two weeks ago and already I've forgotten much of it. So, it's not the most memorable plot -- but I remember that it's a nice farce with some good peformances. I particularly liked Mabel Poulton as Binnie's spunky friend Mollie. Too bad Poulton's career didn't survive the transition to sound.
4 Reviews
Two Likely Girls!!
kidboots18 June 2019
Warning: Spoilers
It seems that Binnie can't even go to the local baths without being
mistaken for Lia de Marita, the famous model, it's all a bit of a bore
really but when an American film scout makes a date with her to meet
at the Excelsior, she (and her friend Mollie) decide to treat it as a lark.
As Mollie, Mabel Poulton is the personification of a fiery flapper, she
is marvellous, she should have looked forward to a career as a Glenda
Farrell type with some British charm thrown in but it was not to be!!
Back to the story - wouldn't you know it, the real Lia is also meeting agents there and in Binnie's impersonation it's a case of "be careful what you wish for" as the real Lia comes with quite a lot of baggage. Like an ex-con husband Geoffrey (John Longdon) fresh out of prison and eager to resume his and Lia's crooked partnership!! She also has nice boy Gordon (John Stuart, looking very like Paul Page, his Hollywood contemporary) on a string - of pearls that she desperately needs for her audition. In reality she and Geoffrey intend to abscond with mummy's pearls away to the continent!!
Enter Binnie - she wows them at the audition with a plaintive and emotive rendition of "My Secret Passion" - singing was something Lia couldn't do. It only takes just over an hour for everything to be sorted. The movie showed that Britain was still finding it's talkie feet in 1930. John Longdon, a fine dramatic actor in silents, started off okay but his performance went a bit off the rails - at one stage I expected him to utter "Curses, foiled again"!! Elissa Landi was so sensitive in the acclaimed "Underground" - playing dual roles was difficult but she was on much surer ground as Binnie than as the temperamental Lia. In these very early talkie experiments there is usually someone who leads the way and here it was Mabel Poulton - she had been a dependable silent star but her first talkie (not this one) was a flop and unfortunately her career never recovered.
Very Recommended.
Back to the story - wouldn't you know it, the real Lia is also meeting agents there and in Binnie's impersonation it's a case of "be careful what you wish for" as the real Lia comes with quite a lot of baggage. Like an ex-con husband Geoffrey (John Longdon) fresh out of prison and eager to resume his and Lia's crooked partnership!! She also has nice boy Gordon (John Stuart, looking very like Paul Page, his Hollywood contemporary) on a string - of pearls that she desperately needs for her audition. In reality she and Geoffrey intend to abscond with mummy's pearls away to the continent!!
Enter Binnie - she wows them at the audition with a plaintive and emotive rendition of "My Secret Passion" - singing was something Lia couldn't do. It only takes just over an hour for everything to be sorted. The movie showed that Britain was still finding it's talkie feet in 1930. John Longdon, a fine dramatic actor in silents, started off okay but his performance went a bit off the rails - at one stage I expected him to utter "Curses, foiled again"!! Elissa Landi was so sensitive in the acclaimed "Underground" - playing dual roles was difficult but she was on much surer ground as Binnie than as the temperamental Lia. In these very early talkie experiments there is usually someone who leads the way and here it was Mabel Poulton - she had been a dependable silent star but her first talkie (not this one) was a flop and unfortunately her career never recovered.
Very Recommended.
Elissa Landi and Mabel Poulton
drednm9 August 2016
Elissa Landi stars in a dual role, as Binnie the chorus girl and Lia de Marita, the famous model she resembles. Binnie is mistaken for the model (who's involved in the theft of a string of pearls) and is asked to audition for a new show that needs a famous name). Egged on by pal Sally (Mabel Poulton) she sings "He's My Secret Passion" and gets the job. But things get more complicated when she borrows some fake pearls from Sally, totally unaware that the real Lia has fled the country with stolen ones.
Landi is charming and does well playing both women. Poulton is fun as spunky Sally. John Stuart plays the Gordon the suitor, John Longden is Lia's partner in crime, Wallace Lupino plays Johnson the fake American, Gus McNaughton plays Zinkwell, Kay Hammond as Joyce, Hannah Jones as the landlady, and Gus Sharland as the sergeant.
Landi had a substantial starring career in 1930s films in England and Hollywood. Poulton, a major silent film star in England, quickly fell to supporting roles in talkies.
Landi is charming and does well playing both women. Poulton is fun as spunky Sally. John Stuart plays the Gordon the suitor, John Longden is Lia's partner in crime, Wallace Lupino plays Johnson the fake American, Gus McNaughton plays Zinkwell, Kay Hammond as Joyce, Hannah Jones as the landlady, and Gus Sharland as the sergeant.
Landi had a substantial starring career in 1930s films in England and Hollywood. Poulton, a major silent film star in England, quickly fell to supporting roles in talkies.
Sound is not great
malcolmgsw10 February 2019
I applaud the issue of any British film of this era on DVD.. I appreciate that the materials used are subject to the depridations of time.Sadly this is the case with this film.The picture elements are in fact better than the sound elements.My hearing is not too good but even with my hearing aids in was well aware that a considerable part of the soundtrack was inaudible through distortion which of course made the following of the plot impossible for me.Great shame.
See also
Awards | FAQ | User Ratings | External Reviews | Metacritic Reviews
